Category: The Design Diary

Starting a new hobby can be very exciting, especially when you have to go and buy all your bits and bobs. When you are starting a new craft or hobby, it can be difficult to know exactly what you need to get started. In this post I have listed all the things I believe a beginner would need to get started sewing!

Remember, starting a craft can be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be, make sure to shop around to find the best prices. All the items I have listed can be found on amazon, but they could also be found in your local Poundland or Dealz.

Hand Sewing Kit

I’m sure everyone has seen one of these before, I always remember my mam having a little set like this. These sets are perfect for beginners because it has all the little bits you need, pins, needles, a measuring tape, thread etc. They are great to get you started and are generally very affordable. This particular set is from Amazon and is currently priced at £4.99/€5.80, check it out here.

How To Sew Book

How to books are great for learning different sewing techniques, for example how to hem a pair of trousers or sew on a button! The illustrated guides are clear and easy to follow. These books are brilliant and they are very reasonable, this one is priced at £7.99/€9.99, you can read more about it here. If buying books isn’t your thing, check out YouTube videos for tutorials on hand sewing, trust me there are loads!

Storage Boxes

Although they aren’t a MUST have, they are nice to have! There is nothing better than building your own sewing kit, filling it with all your own sewing bits! There are so many different sewing kits available and in so many designs. This box is available on Amazon for £18.01/€21.00, they also come in different colours, which you can see here. Remember you don’t have to spend a fortune on a storage box, my sewing box is a purple plastic box with a tray and clear lid, its nothing fancy!

Basic Thread

In the little sewing kits you do get small spools of thread, but a lot of the time they aren’t great and only do for practicing or emergency fixes. I would definitely recommend buying a few basic colours of the Gutermann thread, this thread is great for machines as well as hand sewing and it is great quality! You can pick up 100m spools for around €2.35 in any haberdashery shop, or you could get a multi pack on Amazon for £10.37/€12.00, here.

Fabric Scissors

In my eyes scissors are one of the most important things for any sewer! If you are going to be working with fabric, you will want a good pair of fabric scissors. There is nothing more annoying than trying to cut fabric with cheap blunt scissors! I always say, if you want to invest in something, invest in a very good pair of scissors! For a beginner, I would just recommend getting a pair of affordable fabric scissors, until you are 100% sure you want to continue the craft. Amazon have a huge range of fabric scissors and these ones are £4.99/€5.99, here.

For Fashion Design

I have added a small section for people who want to start doing some Fashion Design. As a beginner I would recommend starting off with some design sketching. Develop your own style of design drawing, build up a collection of sketches and then move on to making one a reality!

Sketch pad

A sketch pad is always a good start, this way you can keep all your designs together, these little pads are very easy to find, they are in almost every Poundland or Dealz! I love working on an A3 size as I can design more on one page and I can do line ups of my designs.

pencils

I feel like this is an obvious one, but not everyone likes to draw in pencil, so when I say pencils, I just mean any drawing medium, work with that you love! I love to design with mechanical pencils and fine pens, other people love to work with markers, pen, chalk, or even ink! I HIGHLY recommend trying out loads of different mediums, you might surprise yourself!

Markers

These are my go to for adding colour to my design sketches. They are expensive, but they work so well. You can buy them individually from Art & Hobby for around €3.50. If you are not sure about them, I would recommend picking up one in a flesh shade and using it for the skin tone on your sketch model. If you like them after, I would recommend getting the multi packs, and build up a little collection for doing your design sketches. These are £20.73/€23.99 on Amazon, here.

I hope you found this guide helpful, I will do two more posts on this subject, for intermediate sewers and for established sewers, so stay tuned if you want to see them!

If you can think of anything I didn’t don’t hesitate to share it in the comments.

Halloween is one of my favourite times of the year, I love decorating my house, especially my sitting room. We love to watch movies around this time of the year so the sitting room definitely is the heart of our Halloween decor!

This year I decided to make my own Halloween wreath to hang on our front door, it turned out so well I decided to share it with you guys!

It is such a quick, easy and affordable DIY, you don’t need any special skills to make it, and most importantly it is fun!!

I hope you liked this DIY, if you prefer to watch DIYs check out my video tutorial here!

If you remake this please tag me on Instagram at thedesigndiary_ I would love to see your recreations!

Bias Binding is a strip of fabric cut diagonally, it is generally used for covering raw edges on fabric, but can also be used as decoration on clothing!

Knowing how to work with Bias Binding is a huge benefit as a designer or as a crafter! If you don’t have the use of an over locker, binding will be a great option for you to have, as it is quick, easy and very effective! Continue reading “How To Use Bias Binding”→

Spring is finally here, and it is time to change-up our wardrobe! Whether you are going to buy all new outfits or just work with what you have, hopefully this post will help guide you through the trends hitting us this Spring and Summer! Continue reading “Spring/Summer Trends 2018”→

Growing up I always wanted to know how to make my own clothes! This led me to study Fashion Design in college!

I’m very passionate about design and decided it would be fun to teach others how to make their own clothes, so I set up a new YouTube channel. This channel will be solely dedicated to Fashion Design and construction! Continue reading “How To Make A Skirt Pattern/Block”→

Ohhh I am so happy it is Fall!! Fall and Winter are my favourite times of the year in regards fashion! I find I can truly be myself during these months, I can wear my leather jackets whenever I want, and I can layer my clothes!

For this post I decided to style my new little number from Zara, and it is this fab faux leather jacket with silver hardware! I got this for my birthday and I’ve been in love ever since!

I have paired the jacket with my River Island cropped black jeans, this new Khaki green jumper from Primark/Penny’s and my new Chelsea style boots, which are also from Primark/Penny’s!